I’ve recently been using Python in my day job, and it’s a pretty neat language – Industrial Light and Magic, Google, Facebook, etc. all use it. It is one of the most versatile languages out there, along with Java.

A particular trick that I discovered recently, is throwaway variables. They are very useful for extracting values. They are denoted using an underscore and comma _, to tell the interpreter to ignore the next set of alphanumeric symbols.

Recently I have been learning how to use the exception handling types in Java’s JDK more appropriately.

Here are some golden rules to follow, when throwing an exception type. Much of how you use checked and unchecked exception types, depends on where you want to throw an exception in the application’s stack.

IllegalArgumentException

Used and useful when parsing an object or string that fails.

A good example could be validating whether a URL or email matches a given format.

NullPointerException

A difficult exception to throw compared to IllegalArgumentException.

It’s recommended you stay away from using them.

You do not want to mix bad NPEs with NPEs thrown intentionally.

It is recommended you throw IllegalArgumentException instead.

Just return null when encountering a value that has not been set.

RuntimeException

The foundational (base) exception class in Java.

It is commonly used to catch unchecked exceptions.

It is particularly useful to throw, when processing something at a higher level, for instance, parsing with an external properties file.

It is common to extend a custom exception class using the RuntimeException class, since it is considered best practice to do so, unless extending a super class with more unique exception handling capabilities.

I’ve been looking online lately for tutorials on Spring Web Flow, and I didn’t find any that were succinct, memorable, or very appealing. For every tutorial that you find online, that framework may be out of date, and another may be in date; but be horrendously long to read… This article helps challenge these attributes.

Create a new project in Eclipse. You’ll need to open ‘other’ option under the New menu heading. A new window will open – select Maven -> Maven Project.

Step 2:

Setup your Spring dependencies.

When you create a new Maven project (under File -> New -> Other…), you will need to use your default workspace location, using the ‘maven-archetype-webapp’ artifact ID. Give your Maven project a name, followed by the parent package that you want to create for this project.

So… we are 25 days into the New Year. It’s been ok, and despite the cold, things are going generally, ‘ok’.

For a long time, I’ve been exploring and developing experience in different disciplines encompassing Computer Science (mainly to get a job in software engineering), but I haven’t had time to explore a topic where I can unleash my creativity, never get bored technically, and generally enjoy a hobby with a lot of pleasure attached to it. That topic, is Computer Graphics!

I can’t wait to see how things develop. I’m going to make loads of mistakes, and probably adopt some bad practices (by mistake) at some stage, but I can’t wait to show the world what I do. I’ve been exposed to art, design and technical disciplines through my life and I really relish doing something a lot of Computer Science professionals never sadly explore in their spare time alongside a full time job.

It’s been quite a while since I last posted something on this blog. In that time I have finished my MSc and started a new job in the real world. In the spirit of the New Year and Resolutions, I have recently created my own custom theme for this blog (ooh er!).

The hope behind the change in the design is to put myself into a more focused, professional mindset, so I can use this little space on the inter-web to share my technical creations in my spare time, now that I am working in the commercial world of technology 🙂